Jumping onto a video call is super easy, but it can very uneasy when you're on a call with someone who's giving you a full-on zoom up their nose. Camera angles often get overlooked because we don't take the time to give these settings a quick check. But taking a minute to do this can certainly save a lot of embarrassment and improve the overall experience of the call. Each device has its own set of rules but ultimately it's about seeing eye to eye- both literally and in agenda.

The year is just about wrapped and the team here at Blue Jeans can’t believe how quickly it’s gone by. Looking back, it’s been a tremendous year and we’re thrilled to celebrate the success with our customers.Here is a shortlist of some of our key accomplishments in 2012.

For most of us the holidays is a time that we enjoy the company of family and friends. But for military personnel and their families who are separated by thousands of miles, this isn’t always possible – but now with Blue Jeans video conferencing it’s gotten easier. Blue Jeans is teaming up with Military Association Benefits Group, Military Comm Networks and its affiliated Joint Force Group companies to create Home for the Holidays.

With thousands of video meetings going on all over the globe simultaneously, we get our share of customer support cases. Recently we caught up with one of our teammates in support, Stuart Minchington, to understand more about his role as support engineer. Having worked as a support engineer for other video companies, Stuart was happy to tell us about why using Blue Jeans to troubleshoot his calls is a unique and dynamic approach.

In order to have the best video call experience, you have to ensure that you're taking the call in an optimum environment and that your are familiar with all your device settings. Most video conferencing systems or solutions likely have a speaker volume setting. When you are about to begin a call, try not to overdrive the volume. Remember that the higher your volume, the more potential for noise to be picked up by your microphone and re-transmitted back to the other end; this causes an unpleasant echo effect.

While the term 'disruption' is appearing in many headlines throughout the technology and business press, as an entrepreneur I feel it is more important to look at the trend lines than at the headlines.

Trend lines involve a good deal of research, a touch of insight, lots of hard work, and substantial risk. In the case of my company, Blue Jeans Network, that research began three years ago and is a good blueprint for today's budding entrepreneurs.

Who would’ve thought that enterprise software would be so sexy? Let’s be real, ‘enterprise software’ is kind of like the nerdy high school kid who sat in the back of the classroom. But after a few summers (and maybe contacts and new clothes), that kid turned into the rockstar that everyone wanted to be around. The sexy sentiment towards enterprise software has been the talk of 2012. But what exactly makes it so sexy?

In recent months the video conferencing industry has been abuzz with WebRTC. But what exactly is it? Prior to his speaking obligation at the WebRTC conference , we caught up with our VP of Product Management, Oded Gal, to get a better understanding of this technology and how it will impact the world of video conferencing.

WebRTC stands for Web Real Time Communications; it’s the ability to use your browser natively for real-time, two-way video. With WebRTC you can define your camera and initiate a video call within the browser. Until recently, videoconferencing was limited by downloading a separate application to run the software. WebRTC negates this step because it allows you to do the exact same thing, but inside your browser.

Awhile back, you’d have to use Windows Media Player or download QuickTime to view a streaming video. But video on the Internet really took off because of YouTube, who used Flash and later HTML5 to embed video into the browser. Two-way video is evolving in a similar way. We’re currently encumbered by downloads but WebRTC takes away that need and makes video conferencing much more accessible and easy to use.

Tomorrow, Thursday, 11/29, Blue Jeans will host a networking event at Fire House Brewery in Sunnyvale, CA. Come learn why we’re the hottest startup in Silicon Valley and why we were voted as one of the Best Places to Work for 2012. Enjoy drinks and food on us, and get a free headshot from a professional photographer. (You can always juice up your LinkedIn profile, right?)

We’ll also be donating to Swords to Plowshares, a local charity dedicated to supporting returning veterans.

The future of technology is here. It is mobile, visual and interoperable. Here at Blue Jeans, we've believed this mantra for some time but it is refreshing to hear it from an audience of high schoolers. I was recently invited to speak at the Monta Vista Symposium organized by the Monta Vista Tech Group.